The Long Trek in the Craft of War
by Medicinal Explosives
Summary: Almost 15 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, Admiral Picard is sent to oversee the testing of an new prototype engine on a new ship with a surprisingly familiar name. But when the drive malfunctions mid-test, Raynor's in for a surprise.
1. Prelude

I do not own any character, object, or etc. relating to either Star Trek or StarCraft, but original concepts, such as plot, are mine.

**Prelude**

Side 1

Our story begins in World War II. Western Europe was at war with Germany, and it wasn't going well. A growing peace movement in the United States caused both Japan and Germany not to consider them a threat. On July 25th 1944, Germany successfully conquered all of Europe, and less than a month later began its invasion of the United States. During all of this, Japan had been secretly developing nuclear weapons, and on September 2nd, 1945, they obliterated Los Angeles with a test nuke, forcing the United States to surrender. Germany and Japan then formed the United Earth government centered in Germany.

80 years later however, a large resistance force began to revolt, and in 2028 they assassinated every government leader in a coup d'état, claiming control of it. Determined to distance themselves from their predecessors, they refused to execute the people in the government. Instead they put them and their families on a large, generational ship on autopilot and shot it towards the other end of the galaxy.

After several hundred years, the ship reached its destination, and the autopilot deactivated itself. The enclosed, comforting environment the ship had provided ceased to be a factor, and people began to colonize the planet they called Korhal. However, several struggles for power ensued over the next few hundred years, with the organization known as the Confederacy coming to power at the end by obliterating the planet Korhal with nuclear weapons, and in doing so claimed dominion over most of colonized space. The rest, you know as StarCraft.

Side 2

This part of the story begins towards the end of the 24th century. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the USS Enterprise-E, had just returned from his mission to Romulus in which he had an encounter with his Romulan-created clone. Thanks to his efforts, peace talks had begun, and the Romulan Empire was considering allying itself with the United Federation of Planets. But at what cost? His friend for many years, Data, was dead. He felt Data was as much a sentient being as any other member of his crew, and took his death hard.

After that, he had been offered the rank of admiral, and he'd taken it. Riker had been promoted to Captain and given command of the Enterprise-E. About 8 years later, he'd been promoted to vice-Admiral, while Picard had been promoted to Fleet Admiral, now head of Starfleet Academy.

Since the USS Voyager had returned from the Delta quadrant, their experiences there had provided invaluable technological information, and soon after the slip-stream drive had been put into production. Last year, in Picard's theoretical technology class, one of his students had submitted a thesis on using artificial wormholes as a mode of transit. Upon reading it, the cadet had been given a field commission as an ensign and transferred to Starfleet Engineering, where they began to work on a prototype. After about 6 months, the prototype was ready for testing, and Picard was sent to a new ship to oversee the testing of the new engine.


	2. Chapter 1: Old Friends

I do not own any character, object, or etc. relating to either Star Trek or StarCraft, but original concepts, such as plot, are mine.

**Old Friends**

Picard appeared in the transporter room, with Captain Nog waiting for him. He saluted. Picard was somewhat amused at the notion. If there was any race he never expected to have a member in Starfleet, it was Ferengi. Nog was the first to join, but he wasn't the last. Ever since the economical reforms started by Grand Nagus Zec, Feranginar had become a much more Federation-like society. Grand Nagus Rom had been ready to apply for membership into the Federation, but decided not to. Not because he didn't believe in it, but because he knew Feranginar wasn't ready for that reform just yet.

"Welcome aboard, Admiral Picard. I'm Captain Nog." He shook Nog's hand, who then waved his right arm towards his two crewmembers and continued. "This is my first officer, Commander Jorzi Dax, and my Head of Security, Lieutenant Commander Alexander Rochenco." He shook Dax's hand, and then proceeded to shake the hand of Roschenco. The last time he'd seen Alexander, he'd been half his height. Alexander himself seemed nervous just to shake his hand. Seeming to notice the lieutenant's discomfort, Captain Nog interjected.

"If you'll follow me, sir, I'll show you to your quarters. You must be tired after your journey from Earth." Picard glared at him for a moment, just to let him know that the opinion was not welcomed. He may be old, but he certainly wasn't feeble.

"Very well. If you wouldn't mind, Captain, I would like Commander Roschenko to escort me." The captain looked ready to complain, but before he could, Picard stopped him. "That wasn't a request, captain." The captain seemed annoyed, but that was to be expected.

He glanced at Alexander before giving the customary "Yes, sir." He waited a moment, and then asked: "Is there anything else you need, sir?"

"Not at the moment, but I would like to be notified before you beam aboard Admiral Riker. I wish to be present when he arrives."

"Yes, sir," replied Nog before walking out of the room, followed closely by Commander Dax, leaving just him and Alexander in the room.

"Shall we, commander?"

"Yes, sir," he replied. "Sorry, sir."

"No need to apologize. And at ease." He seemed to relax, but the tension was still there in his face. He walked to the doors, which opened at his approach, and entered the hall outside as Picard followed him.

"It's been a while, Commander." He seemed to jump out of his skin at the near lack of protocol.

"Yes, sir."

"How is your father doing? I imagine it must be, _difficult_ to convince the high council that joining the Federation is a wise decision." His face loosened as the focus of the conversation was directed away from him.

"Yes, sir. After the assassination of Chancellor Martok, it won't be an easy task to convince them of the benefits, but ever since the Dominion War, the Empire has been making blunder after blunder." His faced tightened up again, obviously nervous about discussing political issues with an Admiral, even if he was a family friend. Worf's sense of duty had apparently rubbed off on him during his time with the Empire. "I believe he can do it, sir. It will just take some time." Disappointed that he'd bottled himself back up again, they continued to walk down the hall in silence. After another fifteen meters, the commander stopped in front of a door labeled "Guest Quarters". The commander put his hand against a panel on the wall, which then proceeded to project a holographic image of a sphere with controls on it. Roscenco then began to speak out loud.

"Computer, transfer all command codes for these quarters to Fleet Admiral Picard."

"_Scanning._" A beam of light projected from the sphere, briefly moving over the commander and then Picard before disappearing. "_Identity confirmed. These quarters are now assigned to Fleet Admiral Picard, Director of Starfleet Academy._" Not wanting to push him, Picard opted to let the commander go.

"Thank you, commander. I require nothing further, you're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," he said as the tension drained from his face, replaced by an aura of professionalism not unlike that of his father. He walked away towards the transport lift at the end of the hall. Making it look like he was fiddling with the holographic controls, he watched as Alexander stepped onto the transport pad and disappeared in a shimmer of light. He proceeded to walk towards the door, which then opened at his approach, and walked inside.

The layout wasn't unlike his quarters on the Enterprise-E, but without a _personal touch_ it lacked the feel of home. The wall about one and a half meters to his left had a standard replicator unit embedded in the wall. About eight meters in front of him was a window through which he could see in front of the ship, which at the moment was docked at Deep Space Nine. About half a meter front of the window was a couch that faced inward towards a monitor, which would only be used if the holographic projector should fail. Twelve meters to his left was the door that led to the bedroom. A painting was on the wall blocking the bedroom, a typical replicator copy of 22nd century art, and the couch had a glass table in front of it.

He walked over to the replicator unit, which protruded about half a meter into the wall and was about half a meter tall and wide. Its walls were walls lit up by the ever-waiting matter-energy converters. As he approached, another spherical control panel appeared in front of him. He touched one of the buttons on it.

"Tea. Earl Gray. Hot." A shimmer of light came from the indent, which, when it died out, was replaced by a steaming cup of tea. He took the cup out of the unit and went over to the couch and sat down.

"Computer, give me the Dixon Hill novel entitled 'The Listening Man'." A moment later the requested book appeared on the table in front of him. He picked it up and began reading it. For some reason, this was the one Dixon Hill story he'd never got around to reading.

After about thirty minutes he placed the book on the table and turned around to look out the window. He had spent so much time in space, it felt as if a starship was as much a home to him as his hometown of La Barre. Suddenly a small but bright flash of blue light appeared in the distance, and the USS Hamoka seemed to burst from nowhere, briefly covered in a glowing blue sheen before returning to its normal appearance. It proceeded to approach the pylon opposite them, preparing to dock at Deep Space Nine.

"Captain Nog to Admiral Picard."

"Yes, captain?" he asked, but he already knew why the Captain had called.

"Sir, the ship carrying Admiral Riker has just arrived. He will be beaming to transporter room four in a few minutes."

"Very good, I will be there shortly, Picard out." He stood up and started to walk towards the door. "Computer, save location in book and end program."

"_Command confirmed._" The book on the table disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He proceeded to walk to the door and into the hall outside.

* * *

_Sorry about having spelled Alexander's last name about 5 different ways, but I wasn't sure how to spell it._


	3. Chapter 2: Psionic Distress

I do not own any character, object, or etc. relating to either Star Trek or StarCraft, but original concepts, such as plot, are mine.

**Psionic Distress**

"Damn it, we must keep the Koprula system out of Zerg hands! If they manage to get a hold on it, they compromise our entire defense perimeter along the edge of the Marsaki sector!" Jim Raynor was getting annoyed. He'd been working with the Protoss for about six months now, but the only thing they'd manage to agree upon is that they can't agree on anything.

_Patience_, said Zeratul mentally. _We agree with you Raynor, but not with the method you suggest we carry the task out. If we try to send in a large force to defend the system, all we will accomplish is to supply the Zerg with more corpses to feed on._ Not wanting to admit it, Raynor knew he was right. Unfortunately he was unable to keep the thought from being sensed by the other Protoss in the room.

_Were glad you agree_, mocked Fenar, new head of the Templar caste. The templar had no like of Raynor, and he took every opportunity to reiterate that fact. _Now, we need a strategy. Does anyone have any ideas?_ For a few minutes, the room fell silent as everyone decided how to proceed. Raynor's mind kept wandering back to Fenar. He had done nothing to anger him. Only because of the difference in race did Fenar object to working with him.

He noticed that some of the Zealots in the back of the room were listening in on Raynor's mental conversation, and he quickly tried to put up the mental barriers he had been trying so hard to perfect.

_These psionic powers of theirs are so fucking annoying. I can't wait to get back to the Hyperion III. My crew may be a little vulgar, but at least can't hear my every thought._ He thought, for an instant, how he'd like to fire his ship's yamato cannon straight at Fenar. Then, an idea struck him.

_Maybe these psionic powers of theirs could be useful_. He thought of a yamato shot firing straight at the Zerg, surrounded by interceptors as their pilots used their psionic powers to direct it's trajectory. Pausing his thoughts for a moment he looked up to see every Protoss in the room was staring at him.

"Let me guess, you like the idea?" Raynor had been trying to get used to Protoss' version of collective brainstorming, but he still found it unnerving that every thought, if not properly blocked, was heard by the Protoss just as if he'd spoken them out loud.

_We find it intriguing, but the concept on its own holds no merit._ He knew Zeratul was right. Without a plan to use it the idea was worthless. Fenar spoke up next.

_What if we use such a method to target the overlords? Executed correctly, we could break the cerebrate's control over a large portion of its forces._ Raynor was somewhat aggravated at the notion. Not because of the idea, but because Fenar thought of it.

_Very well._ Zeratul took notice of Raynor's internal brooding. _Does this seem appropriate to you, General?_

"Yeah, but it'll have to be timed perfectly. A second too early, and the interceptor will end up a cloud of vapor. A second too late and it just goes out on it's own."

_Very well. If you could convince your officers to open their minds during the battle, the _timing_ of the maneuver should not be a problem._ Unfortunately, Raynor knew that meant he'd have to pull in a few favors with the crew. At the moment, he was the only one who was willing to be in the same _room_ as the Protoss. Their way of communicating was unsettling, to say the least, and even his second in command had found an excuse to keep himself from coming to these meetings.

_If you are unable to persuade them to do so,…_ began Fenar, but Raynor stopped him before he got any farther.

"Don't worry, they'll do it. I'll just have to use a few favors, that's all."

_Good. Now, on to the matter of the arrangement of the left attack wing of the fleet._

Raynor let out a mental sigh, but just faint enough that even the Protoss couldn't be sure that it was one. The way this meeting was going, he'd probably be stuck in this room for at least another few hours. He turned his attention back to the meeting, as they were discussing the placement of the wraith attack squadron.


	4. Chapter 3: Torrential Tachyons

I do not own any character, object, or etc. relating to either Star Trek or StarCraft, but original concepts, such as plot, are mine.

**Torrential Tachyons**

As the shimmering light faded, Picard found himself looking upon his old friend and former first officer, Admiral William Riker.

"Welcome aboard, Admiral Riker." He shook Riker's hand as he stepped of the transporter pad.

"Thank you, sir. It's good to see you, Jean-Luc."

"And you as well, _number one_." They both chuckled at the comment. Captain Nog stood behind them, as well as Commander Dax. Lieutenant Roschenco had a conveniently received a large amount of work to take care of and was unable to attend Riker's arrival. Picard turned around and waved his arm towards the two officers behind him.

"This is Captain Nog and Commander Dax, his first officer."

"Admiral," said Nog extending his hand outward.

"Good to meet you," said Riker, taking his hand. "The Enterprise has always been a fine ship. I'm sure with you in command, it will continue to be." A small smile came across Nog's face, partially exposing the sharpened, crooked teeth in his mouth.

"Thank you, sir. If you'll follow me to the bridge, sirs. Starfleet has ordered our immediate departure."

"Ah," replied Picard. "Very good, captain. Lead the way." Nog walked to the doors and into the hall outside, followed by the commander, Picard and Riker.

"So, how is Dianna faring?"

"Quite well, actually. She's actually been promoted to Starfleet medical as one of the leading councilors."

"That's good news. I'm just curious, what made do decide to take the desk job? I never thought I'd see you with that admiral pip on your collar." Riker made a small smile as he thought about his answer.

"To be perfectly honest, neither did I. But after the Enterprise-E was decommissioned, Diana and I decided that were not getting any younger, and seeing how she'd been given a job on Earth, we decided that living on Earth together would allow us to spend more time together. So when they offered me a position in Starfleet Intelligence, I took it." They had reached the transport lift. The five of them stepped on.

"Five to the bridge," said Nog. An instant after he stated the command, they appeared on the bridge of the ship. The layout was not dissimilar from the bridge of the Enterprise-E, but there were some important differences. All the controls were holographic, allowing the interface to physically change to fit the needs of any situation. As a result, the consoles at the back of the bridge could be used for any purpose, and the interface itself could be matched to the preferences of any person. An ensign at an engineering station immediately stood up straight and saluted.

"Admirals on the bridge."

"As you were," said Picard before the bridge crew had time to react, and they all continued to work as normal. Captain Nog walked to the captain's chair in the middle of the bridge followed by commander Dax. Alexander was standing at the back of the bridge at the security station.

"Lieutenant, signal Deep Space Nine with our departure request."

"Yes sir." A moment of silence was on the bridge for a moment before it was broken by Alexander. "Sir, Deep Space Nine has given us departure clearance."

"Good. Engineering, release docking clamps and get the prototype drive ready for operation." A large thump sound was heard from somewhere below them.

"Docking clamps released sir. Drive ready to go."

"Ensign, plot a course away from the station, one half impulse, then increase speed to full impulse when we reach minimum safe distance from the station."

"Aye sir, course plotted."

"Do it." In the view screen, Picard could see the space around moving as the ship turned away from the station. Picard began to reminisce about his time captaining the Enterprise-D. He remembered the sense of pride he felt when he was given command. The history behind the name Enterprise was more than impressive, and he only hoped he wouldn't spoil its reputation. Although he always had his large feel of professionalism around him, he had been nervous about commanding the Enterprise, and now, looking back, he was glad to have been chosen for that command.

Watching it from the sidelines, however, did bring up some mixed feelings. He knew how fortunate Nog was to receive command of this ship, and that if he didn't deserve it he would never have been offered the position. He had even been a deciding factor in his promotion, but in the end he was nostalgic about those days. His time in that admiral's chair had made him realize just how much commanding a ship truly meant to him. After a few minutes, the helmsman brought his thoughts back to the bridge.

"Sir, we've reached minimum safe distance, going to full impulse."

"Good. Engineering, we're good to go. Begin whenever you're ready."

"Aye sir. Beginning release of chroniton particles." Through the viewscreen, Picard could see a red beam of light being emitted from the main deflector, seeming to be sucked in to space in front of them. After a few seconds, the voice of the chief engineer came over the comm. system again.

"Faze one complete. Beginning release of temporal tachyons." A blue light seemed to overtake the red beam coming from the ship, and then continued to pour into the nonexistent hole in front of them.

"Faze two complete. Releasing antimatter burst." A dark yet transparent pulse traveled along the length of the beam, reaching the invisible hole and exploding in a flash of light. The light faded, and in its place was a shining blue hole in the fabric of space in front of them.

"It worked!" shouted the Captain. The bridge crew all glanced at him, surprised at the outburst. Collecting himself, he regained his posture. "Helm, continue at full impulse. Conn, bring the shield modifications online."

"Shields online and stable, captain." The ship continued into the wormhole, the deflector still firing a blue beam ahead of the ship. Before they knew it, the ship had entered a tunnel of blue light. "Shields holding, captain. We should arrive in the Andromeda galaxy in three minutes, twenty-eight seconds." Not a few seconds after he said that, the beam of light coming from the main deflector flickered the red I was before the temporal tachyons were released.

"Engineering to bridge! The shield modifications we used are blocking some of the tachyons from being projected ahead."

"What? Can you fix it?"

"No sir. To correct it, we would need to lower the shields, but the Kigar radiation from the wormhole would vaporize everybody on board in a matter of minutes, and I need at least twenty to correct the problem."

"What can you do, chief?"

"Not much sir. If we keep running the deflector with only chronitons, we'll collapse the exit to the wormhole, trapping ourselves in here forever, but if we shut it off the exit to the wormhole will appear in front of us, but I can't guarentee where we'll end up."

"We don't have any choice! Helm, reverse engines to slow our velocity! Conn, shut of the deflector!"

"Reversing engines, sir!"

"Deflector offline, sir!" The exit to the wormhole, so far in the distance, now seemed to come flying at them at warp speeds.

"Sir, we will exit the wormhole in 10 seconds!" Nog slammed his hand on the holographic control panel in front of him.

"Captain to all hands, brace for possible impact!" Everyone on the bridge got down and grabbed on to something.

"Five seconds to exit!"


	5. Chapter 4: Reinforcements

I do not own any character, object, or etc. relating to either Star Trek or StarCraft, but original concepts, such as plot, are mine.

**Reinforcements**

"Fire!" The weapons officer hit the panel in front of him, sending a barrage of laser fire towards the horde of oncoming scourge. One by one they exploded in a mess of blood and organs. Undeterred, the group kept on its attack run as they were incinerated one by one. Raynor realized that at least ten would make it to their ship.

"Keep firing until the last second, then transfer all weapons power to shields!" The fire kept coming, and only a few seconds before impact, the blue Psi-Weapon of the Protoss came shooting across the bow of the Hyperion III from behind, colliding with the remaining Scourge.

_You're welcome_, he heard Zeratul think. _Our lines are starting to waver. If we plan to use our strategy, it is, as you humans say, now or never._

_Then let me know when you're in position._ "Helm, turn to attack the group of mutallisks in their left flank."

"Sir?"

"Your heard me! Now do it!" Without another word, he began to manipulate the controls in front of him, and Raynor watched the view out of the main screen shift from the chaotic battle in front of them the large group of mutalisks to their right. In the back of his mind, Raynor could see the image of Zeratul's carrier turning with them as he transmitted the image to him.

_Now_, he heard telepathically from Zeratul.

"Fire main battery at the group!" yelled Raynor from his seat on the run-down battlecruiser, at which point both his battlecruiser and Zeratul's carrier, along with several Terran Wraiths and Protoss Scouts, began an attack run on the main cluster of zerg mutalisks. The carrier released a group of about 8 interceptors and started firing its main battery at the cluster as a diversion. At the same time, the battlecruiser began charging its yamato gun. The instant the carrier's fire started hitting the mutalisks, they all began charging at the group of ship.

"Fire missiles!" yelled Raynor, keeping his mind open so the Protoss could hear him. The interceptors headed straight for the area directly in front of the battlecruiser, and the cruiser itself instantly fired its new multi-missile system, launching about 50 missiles at the oncoming horde of Zerg. They all headed straight into the center of the cluster, killing a large number of mutalisks.

The interceptors clustered in front of the cruiser, and not an instant later the yamato cannon fired, the interceptors began to fly with it on a parallel course. The interceptor pilots began to use their psi powers to direct the trajectory of the cannon, following it and changing it's course. An instant before it hit the mutalisks, they altered its course, now heading for a small cluster of overlords closer to the inside of the zerg force.

Realizing what was going on, the cerebrate sent every unit between the cannon and the overlords after it, but too late, as, according to plan, the interceptors had begun to orbit the cannon fire, forming a protective barrier. One by one, the interceptors were destroyed, but they were fast, and only 1 was needed to keep it on course. The last interceptor was destroyed, but too late, as the yamato pulse reached its target, killing seven overlords.

The wing of mutalisks and devourers on the left flank began to stop fighting with the enemy but instead amongst themselves as their link to their cerebrate had now been severed. Zerg spores, Protoss psi cannons and Terran missiles tour through them and began to form a pool of blood so large that it started to mold itself into the shape of a sphere as it formed its own center of gravity before being blasted apart by more Terran and Protoss weapons. The right flank, now with some pressure relieved, began to attack the enemy's left flank with a newfound determination.

_That move bought us some time_, thought Raynor.

_Hopefully it will be enough. Our reinforcements are still a few hours away._ Zeratul had a nasty habit of looking at a scenario from the worst possible angle, and this situation certainly wasn't a welcome time for a habit like that.

A wave of terror suddenly seemed to sweep over the Protoss fleet, and Raynor began to worry as to what could cause such strong feelings. Seeming to answer his question, Zeratul projected the image of what was going on behind their lines. Behind them, now blocking their exit was a blue hole in the space behind them, which was clearly identifiable as a wormhole.

"Shit!" yelled Raynor, banging his hand on the back of his chair. He heard Zeratul mentally curse in Ancient Protian, a nasty habit he'd picked up from Raynor. Only the Zerg were able to create wormholes, which meant that they had underestimated the importance of this system to the zerg. And now, they were trapped between a large zerg force and another one coming through the wormhole.

"Sir,…"

"I know." He was about to give up hope, until his science officer made an announcement.

"Sir, whatever's coming through the wormhole, it's not biological. I don't think it's a Zerg wormhole." Raynor breathed a sigh of relief, but then tensed up again. If the Zerg weren't coming through, then what was. It could just as easily be something worse.

"Sir, whatever it is, our sensors appear to pick up materials not unlike those the Protoss use. It could be reinforcements."

"I wouldn't count on it."

_I know what you hope for, Raynor, but it is not Protoss. We can build Warp Gates, but we an not create portals in the middle of space_.

"Sir, it's coming through!"


	6. Chapter 5: Directing the Regulations

**Directing the Regulations**

"Red alert! Shields up, weapons armed and ready!" yelled Picard. He couldn't believe his eyes. Somehow, the wormhole had taken them straight into the middle of some kind of interstellar warzone. Not only that, but Captain Nog, being a Ferengi, was especially susceptible to the Kigar radiation, and the brief period being exposed to it had knocked him unconscious. Realizing the predicament they were now in, he now stood up and walked over to the Captain's chair and began to speak.

"Computer, transfer all Command codes for the Enterprise to myself, authorization code Picard-Aplha-Five-Tengo.

"_Authorization code confirmed. Command codes have been transferred._"

"Ensign Tomar, sensor readings!"

"Sir, there appears to be a large force of human and alien ships engaged in battle with...an entirely organic species. They appear not to be using any kind of technology at all, but the bio-electric signals coming from them would indicate they have some kind of collective intelligence similar to that of the Borg." Picard cringed at the thought. He knew the Borg were mindless, emotionless killing machines serving the whims of a single intelligence, which meant that whomever was in this fight, the human-alien force was fighting for their lives.

"Where are we, ensign?"

"I'm not sure, sir. Telemetry shows were in the Gamma quadrant, but the population densities don't match with recent records." Picard thought for a moment, and then something came to mind. He remembered a time from the Enterprise-D when Riker had been shifting from universe to universe, and how every time a new Riker was shifted his atomic frequency would change.

"Ensign, check the atomic constant."

"Sir?" the ensign looked at him with a bewildered look on her face.

"Just do it."

"Yes sir." She paused for a moment to do the scan, and then seemed to repeat it to double-check her results. "Sir, the atomic constant of everything around us is off by .002%. We're in an alternate universe." There was a brief moment of silence on the bridge before it was interrupted by a beeping coming from the security console. Rozhenko looked down at his console."

"Sir, we're receiving a two-way transmission request from one of the large human ships. They _appear_ to be using some kind of hyper-accelerated radio transmission designed to travel at warp velocities."

"On main viewer." The main view screen changed from the image of the battle to what appeared to be the bridge of the human ship. Obviously having been through much, the bridge had many burn marks and exposed circuitry, and everyone on it looked dirty, tired, and determined. The man sitting in the captain's seat yelled at the screen.

"Are you hear to help us, because we could really use some right now! Our reinforcements won't be here for another 2 hours."

"We will provide whatever assistance we can offer." Picard turned around to see who had said it, but he knew it was Riker before he saw the look on his face.

"Good, then join the right flank, they could use some help!" The transmission was cut off, and the battle once again returned to the view screen.

"I hope you realize that you just violated about five different regulations," said Picard as he glared at Riker, "one of which being the Prime Directive."

"Yeah, well you can court marshall me later. For now, these people need our help, and I've just offered it." Picard glared at him for a moment longer before turning to the view screen, which now showed the battle continuing to rage on.

"Full impulse. Attack pattern Delta 5." The Enterprise lurched forward, heading straight for the chaotic turmoil currently in front of them. "Ready chroniton torpedoes." After a moment, he heard "Ready!" from tactical officer leuitenant commander Robim.

"Fire!" 3 torpedoes launched from the ship, heading straight at the center of aliens. With just those 3 torpedoes, almost 200 aliens were killed. An instant later, almost the entire enemy force started charging at the Enterprise. With the first volley, the ship shook and sparks began to fly all over the bridge. The engineering console exploded, sending the ensign manning it flying across the bridge.

"Sir, shields are down to 15%! We can't take another hit like that!"

"Fire all phaser banks and torpedo launchers!"


	7. Chapter 6: Awkward First Contact

**Awkward First Contact**

All Raynor could do was just watch in amazement. Whoever these humans were, they'd just destroyed almost a quarter of the enemy forces with 3 shots, and now, in an attempt to defend themselves, they were tearing through the Zerg like a hot knife through butter. And all he could do was just stand there and watch. He could even feel the Protoss' awe, psionically resonating through the entire fleet. That one ship, the USS Enterprise, had just destroyed the entire Zerg Horde in a matter of a couple minutes. He was so amazed that his comm officer had to repeat himself before he heard him.

"Sir, can you hear me? That ship is attempting to contact us." Raynor pulled his thoughts back to the bridge.

"Oh...yes. Put them on the comm screen." The bridge Raynor had seen before was not what he now saw on the screen. Before, what he had seen was a clean, efficiently run bridge, obviously technologically advanced. But now, what he saw was quite different. The bright lighting that he saw before was gone, replaced by dim lights and red flashing ones all over, which he assumed were representative of some kind of alert status. Half the consoles at the back had gone dark, and one had obviously been the source of some kind of explosion. He saw several bloodied crewman being carried away on hovering stretchers. Sparks were bursting up all over the place, but already it appeared that repair crews were attempting to fix the damage. The holographic images that were previously being used as controls panels were offline, replaced now by two-dimensional touch-panels. The captain got up and began to speak.

"We've sustained heavy damage and have a few critically wounded crew members. Is there some kind of base nearby where we can begin to repair our ship?"

"First things first. Who are you?" The man seemed to pause for a moment, as if he was reluctant to reveal that information.

"I am Admiral Jean-Luc Picard from the United Federation of Planets." _Such an imposing title_, Rayner thought to himself, _but wherever this 'Federation' is, it's not here._ He was ready for a barrage of questions to ask this _Picard_, but before he could, he was interrupted.

_I think we can trust him._ The comment from Zeratul came so unexpected that Raynor nearly stumbled backwards when hearing it.

_ Why do you say that?_

_ I am for some reason unable to feel their thoughts, but rather can only feel their emotions. Despite that, I can gage that their intentions are honorable and they have no desire to harm us._

_All right Zeratul, but with that kind of weaponry, having them as an enemy could prove fatal._

_ Why are you viewing this situation from such a pessimistic point of view? That is not like you, Raynor._

_Well that's usually your job, and since your not being pessimistic, I have to be._ Zeratul let out a mental chortle, then quickly suppressed it, as he did not want to openly admit the Terran sense of humor had gotten to him.

"I am General Jim Raynor of the Terran Liberation Forces. Where are you from?"

"That would take some time to explain, General. May we invite you aboard our ship to discuss it?"

"I suppose so. We'll man a shuttle pod over to your ship in a few minutes."

"I'm sorry General, but our shuttle bay was badly damaged in that fight. We'll have to beam you over."

"Beam?" Whatever that was, it didn't sound pleasant.

"Sorry, let me explain. You see, we have the ability to convert matter to energy and visa-versa. We will convert your molecules into a data stream and then reconstruct them in another location." Raynor understood enough to know that the experience would be similar to traveling through a Protoss warp gate.

"Sounds fine. Jon, Mako, come with me." The three of them proceeded to stand in the middle of the bridge, and Raynor turned back to the comm screen. "Well, we're ready when you are." Picard then tapped the emblem on his chest, which proceeded to make a clicking noise. Raynor assumed that it was some kind of communications device. "Bridge to transporter room." A voice replied from the badge.

"Ensign Korey here, sir."

"Ensign, lock on to Raynor and his men and energize."

"Yes, sir. Energizing" The instant that word was spoken, he, for an instant, felt like he was being painlessly disintegrated before appearing on the bridge of their ship.

Even with the damage they'd sustained in the attack, their technological superiority was plainly evident. Not a moment after he'd materialized a loud beep sounded from behind him, and startled, he whirled around to see a console screen turning on, displaying what he took to be the emblem of whatever nation these Terrans hailed from. There was a large black circle filled with stars and olive branches coming up either side, and underneath the words "United Federation of Planets" clearly stood out. He turned around to see this "Admiral Picard" standing there with his hand placed out in front of him towards Raynor.

"Welcome aboard the Enterprise, General Raynor." Hesitant, he shook Picard's hand, but when he did he knew that this Captain, whoever he was, had every intention of offering assistance, if not reluctantly. "The conference room is this way. I assume you wish to begin discussions right away before we begin transit to your base."

"Uh, yeah. That'd probably be a good idea."

"Good." He then began to walk toward a door on the other end of the bridge, Raynor following close behind. When Picard approached it, it opened, revealing a room with a long, curved table with chairs along it. Picard gestured him to a seat at the far end of the table. After Raynor sat down, his men followed suit, and Picard, along with a somewhat younger man with a slightly grayed beard, sat down at the other end.

"Well, General, where should we start?"


	8. Chapter 7: Don't Forget Us

_Sorry about taking so long to start writing again, I've had some stuff going on I'd rather not get into. But anyways, here's the new chapter._

I do not own any character, object, or etc. relating to either Star Trek or StarCraft, but original concepts, such as plot, are mine.

**Don't Forget Us**

"Well, General, where should we start?" To be honest, that was a good question. When he'd come to the Koprula system today, this was not one the places he'd thought he'd be when the battle was over.

The last thing he needed was another branch of Earth-based military trying to take over the region, but if Zeratul trusted them, which he learned the hard way takes quite a lot, then he could trust them too. Obviously, trying to find out if they were allies who'd, hopefully, be willing to help would be a good start, _but first…_

"Well, I think it'd be a good idea if we introduced each other before going elsewhere. And I mean beyond all that 'Federation' stuff, because I've honestly never heard of it." Picard looked over to a Terran male sitting to his right, who nodded.

"That seems quite fair. Before we continue, however, you should know that this room has sensors that can detect very minute body changes, or in simpler terms, a very sophisticated lie detector. I can deactivate the device should you feel uncomfortable, but know that it is impartial and would most likely help affirm a temporary truce before deciding where to go from here." Raynor didn't have to think about his answer for very long.

"Picard sir," he said, pointing his thumb behind him at the group of ships outside the window, "our allies out there are quite literally living lie detectors. Although I'm not too partial to that particular fact, I'm perfectly O.K. with it, so long as it doesn't get personal." He paused a second, considering the repercussions of his next actions.

"That being said, I think they'd like a part in this meeting too, whatever the results might be." The two men accompanying Raynor shifted uncomfortably. He noticed this, however, and gave them a stern glare before looking back at Picard.

"That's perfectly understandable." He tapped the communications device on his chest again. "Picard to bridge." After a moment, a voice came from the device.

"Lieutenant Roschenko here, sir." Raynor kept looking at the device. _These people _must_ be advanced if they can make an advanced communicator like that fit into a tiny piece of metal. _

"Send a subspace message to the lead alien ship requesting two-way communication from the conference room."

"Yes, sir." There was a brief pause before the lieutenant spoke up again. "Sir, it seems the aliens send messages through mini slip-stream portals. They seem unable to receive subspace messages." Picard seemed deep in thought for a moment before replying.

"Thank you, lieutenant." He tapped his badge twice. "Picard to Engineering."

"Chief Engineer Spert here, sir." Raynor noticed that this Engineer's voice sounded strange, almost like it went through a synthesizer before arriving here.

"Chief, I need to know if the slip-stream drive can be modified to be used as a communications relay and ETA for such modifications." There was another pause. _Well, this is interesting, _thought Raynor, and proceeded to make a mental note to ask Swanson about this later.

"Well, if we re-route an outgoing subspace message through the slip-stream crystals, that might force the message through slip-stream instead of subspace. It could be done immediately, sir."

"Good, then give those instructions to Lieutenant Roschenko. Picard out." Out of the table, a 2-dimensional monitor appeared out of thin air, but remained completely transparent where the communique should be. After a moment, it flickered to life, revealing Zeratul and Fenar.

_Raynor_ said Zeratul, _how go negotiations with the group of Terrans_.

"Well, that's why I rang, Zeratul. I thought you might want a part in these _negotiations_." Zeratul nodded in agreement, but suddenly seemed shocked as if he'd seen a ghost, assuming Protoss believe in ghosts.

_Nonsense_, said Fenar. _Why would we _ever_ consider…_ he began, but Zeratul cut him off.

_You will be silent!_ Fenar looked shocked, and Raynor was sitting there looking like a six-year-old that had just seen the easter bunny beat up santa claus. _Are you so blinded by templar arrogance that you cannot see these terrans might as well be a gift from the Xel-Naga!_

_You speak lies!_

_Am I, Fenar? Open your mind. _Fenar, now confident he'd won this argument, seemed to stand there for a few moments before sharing a similar expression to Zeratul not a minute ago. After a silent nod from Fenar, Zeratul continued.

_We are ready to beam aboard you ship, Admiral Picard. We will lower our shields for transport, but only myself and Fenar. _The center of the holo-monitor returned to non-existence, before the monitor itself sank back into the table as quickly as it had appeared. Raynor turned back to Picard to see that he, as well as the rest his group, all had confused expressions on their faces.

"Don't worry, this meeting is an exchange of information, right? Once the Protoss get here, I'm sure we'll _both_ have some questions." Picard seemed to share this sentiment, and nodded. Raynor, however, had a bit more on his mind. He had called these Terrans a "gift from the Xel-Naga". And from Raynor's experience, anything involving the Protoss' Gods meant either something _very_ good or apocalyptically bad.


	9. Chapter 8 Coming Soon (Hopefully)

OK, so after several years of personal bull****, I'm finally going to try and finish this fic, which has been gnawing at the back of my mind for a while now. And by personal bull****, I mean clinical depression. Just saying personal stuff probably seems like a cop out to other people. I've still got a lot of stuff going on, but hopefully I'll have the next chapter up within a month or so. As the original fic was being written before the release of Starcraft II, some of the later events may reflect events from the newer game, depending on where the story goes, both in the fic and the upcoming release of Heart of the Swarm. Anyways, i know it's been a while since i last edited this, but I'm more likely to just sit down and write it if I promise random people over the internet that I actually will do it. :P


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